UT to nursing students: No 'short-shorts, cleavage'

By Kolten Parker |
June 4, 2014
| Updated: June 4, 2014 2:02pm

In this Thursday, Sept. 27, 2012 photo, students walk through the University of Texas at Austin campus near the school's iconic tower in Austin, Texas.

Photo By University of Texas at Austin

Students head to classes at UT-Austin.

The Perry-Castaneda Library on the University of Texas campus.

The University of Texas tower.

SAN ANTONIO — University of Texas officials removed “poorly worded” dress code signs Wednesday in the School of Nursing building that prohibit “revealing clothing” that “distracts from the learning environment,” such as “short skirts” after backlash on social media.

The signs, which were posted in elevators in the School of Nursing building on Tuesday, focus on clothes worn by women and prohibit “midriff-baring shirts, short-shirts, short skirts, low-rise pants and low-cut shirts that reveal cleavage.”

“If the issue is that clothing 'distracts,' perhaps what the UT nursing program needs to do instead of shaming or policing the clothing of female students is to instruct those who are 'distracted' by such clothing to stop being distracted,” said Jessica Luther, a UT alumna and activist in Austin.

Gayle Timmerman, associate dean for academic affairs in the School of Nursing, said the signs were removed a day after they were placed in the elevators because they didn't relay the whole message.

She said the signs were perceived as being “gender specific” and that there was “a lot of stuff on social media” about them.

“The signs are also missing the purpose of the dress code, which is to maintain a professional image, and were incorrectly worded,” she said. “It didn't portray our exact intentions.”

There are about 1,000 students enrolled in the School of Nursing and fewer than 100 are men, she said.

J.B. Bird, a spokesman for the University of Texas, said officials removed the signs because they are “poorly worded.”

The university does not have a dress code, he said, but professional schools, such as the School of Nursing, have the ability to institute one.

Timmerman said the School of Nursing's dress code is similar to the signs posted, but is focused on professionalism, and that students have never complained.

“Nurses are routinely sexualized in our culture (and) to see this kind of statement directed toward women who are already going into a field where they undoubtedly know about this sexualization will only create more anxiety for them,” Luther said.

The signs were first reported by the women's interest blog Jezebel.

Registration for the first session of summer school at the University of Texas began Tuesday and the first day of classes are Thursday.